US 9 passes Ausable Marsh Wildlife Management Area and NY 442 comes in from the east at the small hamlet of Peru, US 9 heads down to the shore of the lake itself, which it will stay close to all the way into Plattsburgh as Lakes to Locks Passage. On clear days it is possible to see Burlington across the water. Ahead lies Valcour Island. In the narrow, rocky strait between it and the shore, Benedict Arnold's hastily built fleet held off the British on October 11, 1776 in the Battle of Valcour Island in what is considered the first battle in U.S. naval history. More recent military history is apparent shortly thereafter when US 9 passes now-closed Plattsburgh Air Force Base, a pillar of the regional economy Plattsburgh has struggled to replace. When it actually enters Plattsburgh, it becomes first U.S. Avenue, then Peru Street when it passes the Old Catholic Cemetery. The Saranac River draws alongside twice before US 9 takes a left turn at Bridge Street and crosses it. Just past the bridge, the highway turns left again onto City Hall Place at the center of town. US 9 passes in front of the City Hall designed by John Russell Pope, also the builder of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. Two more quick lefts follow past the large obelisk of Riverside Park, onto Miller and Cornelia streets, and then US 9 turns right at the eastern terminus of the lengthy NY 3 to follow Margaret Street north and out of the city. It bends northeast to return to the lake shore shortly after the city limit, following alongside Cumberland Bay. At the Dead Creek crossing, US 9 widens to four lanes for the first time since the Albany area to handle the heavy traffic at the junction with the eastern terminus of NY 314, which continues east on County Route 57 to another ferry connector, just southeast of the Northway. north of the junction, after North Country Shopping Center, the highway returns to two lanes and the name Lakes to Locks Passage as it overlooks Woodruff Pond and Treadwell Bay. I-87 is visible a thousand feet (305 m) to the east across the many open fields as the two roads parallel each other's turns closely. Another short route, County Route 58, formerly NY 456, comes in from the west and terminates at US 9 shortly after the